Crystal Palace Station (CYP)

Address: Crystal Palace Station Road, London SE19 2AZ
Opened: 10th June 1854
Station Code: CYP
Fare Zone: 3/4

London Overground Line(s) Served:

East London Line

Service Pattern(s):

4 trains per hour to Highbury & Islington

Interchange(s)

Southern

Station History

Following the relocation of the ‘Crystal Palace‘ from Hyde Park to the location following the Great Exhibition, it was realised that transport to the area was extremely poor.

This realisation led the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway to construct a spur from their existing line at Sydenham to serve a new station, located just off Anerley Road that opened on 10th June 1854.

Just two years after opening, thanks to the completion of the Crystal Palace Tunnel, the station began accepting through services from Wandsworth in 1856. This was followed in 1857 by eastward services being extended via a new connection at Norwood Junction.

With an increase in traffic, the existing station buildings were found to be inadequate and the current building was constructed and opened in 1875. Remodelling of the station platforms followed and was completed in 1890.

12th May 1911 saw the completion of overhead electrification construction with the first trains able to serve the station in time for the Festival of Empire at the Palace.

Following the destruction of the Crystal Palace by fire in 1936, passenger numbers tumbled and a majority of train services were diverted to serve the London to Croydon route rather than the London Bridge to Victoria loop.

With the passing of the Railways Act 1921 the London Brighton and South Coast became part of the new Southern Railway on 1st January 1923. Under the new entity, the line and its services were converted from AC Overhead to DC Third Rail electrification in June 1928

The passing of the Transport Act 1947 saw the ‘Big Four’ railways nationalised, with the Southern Railway becoming part of British Railways Southern Region on 1st January 1948.

In the early 1980s, the interior of the station building had reached such a state of disrepair that a new glazed ticket hall with a roof reminiscent of the Crystal Palace was constructed to the right of the existing structure.

Sectorisation of the railways saw the Southern Region of British Railways become the London & South Eastern sector in 1982, later renamed Network Southeast on 10th June 1986.

Privatisation of the Railways following the Railways Act 1993 saw the station and its lines franchised to Connex, who operated them under their South Central subsidiary.

A further management change occurred on 26th August 2001, when the new franchisee of the line Govia bought out the remaining two years of the Connex agreement to assume services early.

Following works valued at over £4million, the original station building was partially refurbished by Railtrack in 2002.

In preparation of the arrival of East London Line services provided by the new London Overground the station underwent redevelopment to make it fit for the new line. Although the new services began in 2010, the station works had not been completed and indeed took another 6 months to finish.

The new operator began refurbishment work in 2012 with the original station building being reopened on the 24th September. The 1980s ticket office underwent demolition at this time, being completed in October. The refurbishment works were finally completed on 26th March 2013.